Viktor Orban aims for third term as Hungarian PM

By
Euronews

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is aiming for a third term in a row after declaring he’s ready to lead his Fidesz party in 2018 elections.

His approval ratings have recently been boosted by his hardline anti-immigration policies including the construction of a steel fence along the country’s southern border.

Orban, who returned to power in 2010, after eight years in opposition, was reelected in 2014. He has put Hungary’s economy back on a solid financial footing but his government has been criticised by the European Union and the United States for curbing media freedoms, reforms of the court system, a centralisation of power and a crackdown on civil society groups.

On Sunday the 52-year-old was re-elected party chairman and pledged to create new jobs, increase support for families and to boost construction by cutting VAT from 27 percent to 5 percent on home building.